Woman arrested in dead baby hoax

MONTEZUMA, Ga. -- A woman has been charged with making a false statement to law enforcement after rumors circulated about a baby in a dumpster.

According to a news release, police received an influx of calls
regarding a baby being found in a dumpster over the New Year holiday.

Police say 21-year-old Alexis Boland was charged after she admitted to initially fibbing to police.

She told police she wanted to play a joke on a co-worker by telling
them she found a baby in the dumpster. Customers overheard her and the
rumor began.

When first interviewed by police, Boland described talking to the
E-911 Center and giving the baby to "two cops who were riding in a white
patrol car with red and blue markings."

None of the patrol cars are white with red and blue markings, no one
brought a baby to the hospital and there was no record of her call to
the E-911 center, police chief Eric Finch says.

Officers searched dumpsters all over town and found a baby doll in the dumpster behind Subway.

Finch says he filed charges on the advice of the district attorney.

"This has really caused a concern within the community and some of
our local pastors were talking about this in their church services on
Sunday," Finch said in the news release.

13WMAZ went to Montezuma and talked to people who say they heard the rumor over the past few days.

"It was just by gossip and when I heard it was, it was just
overwhelming for me, upsetting. How could anyone do a baby like that,
and then come to find out later it was a joke even if it was a joke,
it's not funny at all," said Blanchie Rockmore of Oglethorpe.

"I feel like people should not make jokes like that because that
was, a baby, and people are more concerned about situations like that.
And it could have been anybody," said Greenena Green of Montezuma.

But others we talked to said they were glad that the rumor wasn't real.

"I'm glad it was a joke, I'm glad that you know that they didn't find
a baby, but it's still terrible that somebody would. That's not a
joke. It's not a kind of joke that you would want to play on somebody,"
said Sabrina Warnock of Montezuma.